Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about using CareLaunch to launch and manage your virtual care practice.
Getting Started
How do I sign up for CareLaunch?
Visit carelaunch.health and click Request Demo to schedule a walkthrough with our team. We'll set up your account and guide you through onboarding. See the full Getting Started guide.
How long does it take to set up my practice?
Most practices can be fully configured and seeing patients within a few days. The core setup — branding, providers, scheduling, and payments — can be completed in a single session. More complex configurations like custom forms, automations, and EHR integrations may take additional time.
What do I need before I start?
You'll need your practice name, logo, provider details (credentials, NPI numbers, specialties), and a Stripe account for payment processing. If you're importing existing patients, prepare a CSV file with their demographics.
Can I try CareLaunch before committing?
Contact our team at [email protected] to learn about available plans and trial options.
Scheduling
How do patients book appointments?
Patients can book appointments through the patient portal at any time, or during the registration workflow as part of onboarding. They select a service, optionally choose a provider, pick an available time slot, and confirm the booking. See Appointment Scheduling for details.
What calendar views are available?
CareLaunch offers four calendar views: Month (find available days at a glance), Week (compare options across a week), Day (see detailed time slots), and Table (quickly scan next available slots). Both patients and providers can switch between views.
How do I set provider availability?
Navigate to Providers > [Provider Name] > Availability to set weekly recurring schedules, add exceptions for time off, and configure buffer time between appointments. Each provider manages their own calendar.
Can patients reschedule or cancel appointments?
Yes. Rescheduling and cancellation are supported based on policies you configure. Patients can make changes through the patient portal, and providers can manage appointments from the admin dashboard.
Does CareLaunch send appointment reminders?
Yes. Automated appointment reminders can be sent via SMS and email to reduce no-shows. Configure reminder timing and channels in your Reminders settings.
Patients
How do patients register for my practice?
Patients self-register through your branded patient portal. You configure the registration workflow to include the steps you need — account creation, demographics collection, consent forms, custom intake questionnaires, and optionally scheduling. See Patient Registration.
Can I import existing patients?
Yes. Navigate to Patients > Import Data, upload a CSV file, map columns to CareLaunch fields, and review the import. See Data Imports for detailed instructions and field mappings.
How do I handle duplicate patients?
CareLaunch includes duplicate patient detection to help you identify and merge duplicate records. See Duplicate Patient Management for the matching criteria and merge process.
What patient information does CareLaunch store?
CareLaunch stores demographics, contact information, medical history, documents, consent records, appointment history, communication logs, and custom form responses — all as FHIR-compliant resources. All data is encrypted at rest and in transit.
Can patients access their own information?
Yes. Patients access their information through the branded patient portal, where they can view appointments, send secure messages, complete forms, and manage their profile.
Tasks & Care Coordination
What are tasks in CareLaunch?
Tasks are structured activities for managing patient care — things like follow-up calls, document reviews, referral coordination, or care plan steps. Tasks can be created manually or generated automatically through automations. See Tasks.
Can I create subtasks?
Yes. Subtasks provide a detailed checklist within a parent task, ensuring all necessary actions are completed. Notes can also be added to tasks for team communication and context.
What is the board view?
The Board View is a kanban-style interface for visual workflow management. Drag tasks across columns to update their status, and use filters to focus on specific task types, assignees, or patients.
How do care plans work?
Care plans use Plans to define standardized sets of tasks for common care scenarios. When a plan is applied to a patient, the platform automatically creates the corresponding tasks, ensuring consistent care delivery.
Campaigns & Communication
What communication channels does CareLaunch support?
CareLaunch Campaigns supports email, SMS, in-app notifications, and voice messages. You can send real-time notifications or schedule messages for later delivery. See Campaigns Overview.
How do I create a patient segment for targeted messaging?
Segments can be dynamic (based on real-time data like patient history or conditions) or static (predefined lists you import). Navigate to the Campaigns section to create and manage segments. See Segments.
Are campaigns HIPAA-compliant?
Yes. CareLaunch is designed to maintain HIPAA compliance in all campaign operations. Best practices include de-identifying data where possible, using only necessary PHI, and obtaining explicit consent before using patient data in campaigns.
Can I use templates for my messages?
Yes. Create reusable message templates for emails, SMS, push notifications, and in-app messages to maintain consistency across communications. Templates support personalization variables and dynamic attributes.
How does the opt-out process work?
Patients can opt out of communications at any time. CareLaunch manages opt-out preferences per channel and ensures compliance with messaging regulations. See Opting Out for details.
Notifications
Why am I (or my staff) not receiving notification emails?
Notifications pass through two layers of settings, and either one can stop them. Check both:
- Organization settings — Go to Settings > Notifications > Notification Types and confirm the notification type is enabled for your organization. When a type is disabled here, it is suppressed for everyone — email, SMS, and in-app alike — regardless of individual preferences. Note that most notification types have separate Admin and Patient versions; make sure you're checking the row for the right audience (use the audience filter at the top of the list).
- User settings — Have the affected user open their profile icon (top-right) > Settings > Notifications and confirm the notification type is toggled on for the Email channel. Preferences are per-user and per-channel, so email can be off while in-app is on.
If both layers look right, also verify:
- The user's email address is correct on their account, and the message isn't in a spam/junk folder
- For SMS, the user has a verified phone number on file
- For appointment cancellation/reschedule notices to providers, the Notify Provider toggles under Settings > Scheduling are on
- Use the Send a test notification button on the notification type (Settings > Notifications > Notification Types) to confirm end-to-end delivery
See the full troubleshooting checklist for a step-by-step walkthrough.
One person stopped getting notifications but everyone else still gets them. Why?
That points to user-level settings rather than organization settings: check that user's notification preferences (profile icon > Settings > Notifications), their email address and phone number, and that their account is active. If everyone in a role stopped receiving a notification at the same time, check the organization-level toggle instead — someone may have disabled that notification type for the whole organization.
Can I customize what notification emails say?
Yes. Admins can edit the email subject, email body, SMS message, and in-app message for any notification type under Settings > Notifications > Notification Types. Templates support dynamic variables like {patientName} and {appointmentTime}. See Notification Settings for the full variable reference.
Integrations
Which EHR systems does CareLaunch integrate with?
CareLaunch integrates with major EHR platforms including Epic, Cerner, and Athena via FHIR R4 APIs. Custom EHR adapters and HL7v2 messaging are available on Enterprise plans. See EHR Integrations.
What data can be exchanged with my EHR?
Supported FHIR resources include Patient demographics, Practitioner information, Appointments, Encounters, Observations (vitals), Conditions (diagnoses), DocumentReferences, and Tasks. Both read and write access are available on Professional and Enterprise plans.
Can I transfer data via FTP/SFTP?
Yes. Batch data transfer via FTP/SFTP is available on Enterprise plans for organizations that need to exchange large datasets on a scheduled basis.
Billing & Payments
How does payment processing work?
CareLaunch uses Stripe for secure, PCI-compliant payment processing. Connect your Stripe account from the Integrations Hub, set pricing for your appointment types, and start collecting payments. Patients can pay with credit cards, HSA/FSA, and other supported methods.
Can I issue refunds?
Yes. Refunds can be processed directly from the CareLaunch platform through your connected Stripe account.
Does CareLaunch handle insurance billing?
CareLaunch focuses on cash-pay and direct-pay models. For insurance billing, you can integrate with external billing systems. See Billing Integration for options.
Where can I see my revenue data?
The Reporting section includes financial reconciliation reports, payment tracking, and revenue analytics. You can also access detailed transaction data through your Stripe dashboard.
Security & Compliance
Is CareLaunch HIPAA-compliant?
Yes. CareLaunch maintains strict HIPAA, GDPR, and HITECH compliance. All data is protected with 256-bit encryption at rest and in transit, hosted in SOC 2 Type II certified data centers. A Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is included with all plans. See HIPAA Compliance.
Does CareLaunch provide a BAA?
Yes. A Business Associate Agreement is included with all CareLaunch plans. This is executed during onboarding.
What are my compliance responsibilities?
While CareLaunch provides compliant infrastructure, your practice is responsible for staff HIPAA training, internal privacy policies, regular security risk assessments, and managing patient-rights workflows. This is a shared responsibility model.
How is patient data protected?
Patient data is encrypted at rest and in transit using 256-bit encryption. Access is controlled through role-based permissions, two-factor authentication, and detailed audit logs. Automated backups and disaster recovery ensure data availability.
What user roles are available?
CareLaunch provides role-based access control with roles including Admin (full access), Organization Admin (organization settings and users), and Instance Admin (patients and operations for a specific location). See Users.
Platform & Technical
What browsers and devices are supported?
CareLaunch works on modern web browsers with camera and microphone access for virtual visits. See System Requirements for specific browser versions and device compatibility.
Does CareLaunch support virtual visits (telehealth)?
Yes. HIPAA-compliant video consultations are built directly into the platform. Schedule virtual visits as part of regular appointment booking, and patients receive email invitations with join links. See Virtual Visits.
Can I use a custom domain for my patient portal?
Yes. CareLaunch supports custom domains so your patient portal appears under your own branded URL.
Does CareLaunch have an API?
Yes. CareLaunch provides a FHIR R4-based API for developers integrating with the platform. The API supports OAuth 2.0 authentication and provides read/write access to Patient, Task, ServiceRequest, and other FHIR resources.
Can I automate workflows?
Yes. The Automations system lets you create trigger-based actions — automatically create tasks, send messages, update records, or notify team members based on events like appointment bookings, form submissions, or status changes.
Can I create custom intake forms?
Yes. The Forms builder lets you create custom intake questionnaires, consent documents, and assessments using a drag-and-drop interface. Forms can be added to registration workflows or assigned to patients on demand.
What is FHIR and why does it matter?
FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is the modern standard for exchanging healthcare data electronically. CareLaunch is built natively on FHIR R4, which means your data is structured for interoperability with EHRs, health information exchanges, and other healthcare systems from day one. See our Glossary for more healthcare and technical terms.
Have a question not answered here? Contact us at [email protected] and we'll be happy to help.